A sizeable swarm of seniors gathered near the Schubert Centre on Thursday, March 21 to protest low pensions in Vernon and across the country.
Chants of 鈥渙ne, two, three, four, I am sick and tired of being poor,鈥� echoed through the streets as the nearly 100 individuals marched downtown to express themselves.
Seniors all across Vernon gathered in the downtown core to march for higher pensions on Thursday
鈥� Vernon Morning Star (@VernonNews)
鈥淚 am just fed up with hearing about poverty in the city,鈥� said Carole Fawcett, organizer of the march. 鈥淥ne woman lived in her car for 14 months, she was 73-years-old. Another one was rent evicted. It was just tiring hearing about all of this.鈥�
Fawcett was 鈥渁mazed鈥� with the amount of individuals who turned out in support, as the march was part of a provincewide Seniors Tin Cup movement. Fawcett previously organized a smaller gathering, in December of 2023.
鈥淚鈥檓 so touched to see,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow I just hope the government will do the right thing and raise pensions.鈥�
According to , 28 per cent of Canada鈥檚 senior women are living in poverty. If a senior is relying on the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), Guaranteed Income Supplement and Old Age Security (OAS), the average amount provided from all three is from $18-20,000, which is lower than the Canadian poverty threshold of $25,552.
鈥淢y wife gets a pension and I get OAS and CPP, and we will get money for our house,鈥� said Mel Piper, one such individual at the protest. 鈥淏ut once the money from the house is gone, I am afraid we would be SOL as it wouldn鈥檛 be enough to support us.鈥�
The Tin Cup movement was started by Sharon Elliot of Vancouver, who witnessed a woman taking bottles and cans out of a garbage can in a nearby park. The woman, who was clean and neatly dressed, told Elliot that she was doing this as she didn鈥檛 have enough money to live. Elliot realized that soon seniors would be standing on corners, holding tin cups in order to survive each month.
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